Understanding HR Technology series - PredictiveHire
In the course of what I do I get the chance to come into contact with an impressive array of HR Technology products that could form a part of how enlightened people professionals are taking to reimagining the world of work. Given the avalanche of technology choices faced by our profession I want to give byte size reviews of some of those I’d recommend as we all seek to make our organisations relevant places to attract and retain today’s talent.
This week I’d like to focus on an emerging technology vendor that supports the growing influence of predictive data analytics into our organisations with the folk at PredictiveHire.
The problem – a legacy of unstructured and gut-based decision-making.
To the traditional HR / Recruitment function the whole data analytics adoption curve might still feel out of reach within a business environment still wedded to the outdated tactics that have fuelled people-related decisions for over a century. Thankfully, there is a growing recognition and movement that the last bastion of gut-based decision-making in the business, HR, is in desperate need of a revamp, especially given the importance of people. Our dependence in 2016 on informing people investments around the unstructured interview or the sheer lack of structured data underpinning decision support is just unacceptable given the technological possibilities we could embrace in the data space but I recognise that making the transition for some needs nurturing and supported.
Whilst this has to be a conscious decision by the business to embrace this development, the adoption of the right technology at the right time can act as an enabler. In that regard, step forward PredictiveHire.
Who and what is PredictiveHire?
You’re going to hear a lot about PredictiveHire in the coming years and they are currently one of the leading lights in making our data start working properly for us in HR/Recruitment. I got drawn immediately to the simplicity and relevance of their core beliefs :
“All people decisions should be based on data and analytics.”
For the geeks out there, there is enough expertise in situ within the business to engage you on econometric modelling, data extraction frameworks and of course it’s all underpinned by the benefits of a SaaS solution. At its core, it is helping clients unlock the predictive power of data and answering true cross-functional, business-related questions such as :
· How can we increase sales and revenue ?
· How can we focus our recruitment activity on the candidates that we predict matter most to us ?
· How can we reduce the impact of employee churn ?
How does it work?
Put simply this is about producing analytics that help accurately predict an external candidate’s performance and/or tenure, before they are hired. It does this by collecting existing anonymous team data (e.g character trait data, bio-graphical data, behavioural data and overlaid with job function specific KPI data) picking up on patterns and trends – constructs a predictive algorithm – helps rule out the scientifically proven bad hire – improves objectives KPIs – refines as more data goes through it building in more pattern and trends – ultimately shifts performance curve.
Once the predictive model has been built, it can be inserted into an existing (or new) recruitment work flow via a simple web link to a candidate survey (e.g Survey Monkey), for immediate value creation and ROI.
What did I think?
I'm a firm believer in the power of predictive analytics as a game changer. The technology and user interface I've seen from PredictiveHire is terrific but a few supporting points for talent leaders needs emphasised :
1. Get your 'why' firmly bedded down before setting off. This should never be a blind technology purchase. Where are you on the maturity scale in driving change in the way you want to work with your business ? Where are you placing for maximum benefit in your recruitment workflow and why ? This could be a natural evolution from reporting analytics and an organisational curiosity that has built some momentum on tackling real business issues and questions with the power of data to inform better investments on our people budget.
2. This will probably be forcing a new way of working and for all its inefficiencies there will be a comfort in the old prevailing unstructured, unscientific approach passed down through the HR / recruitment generations. Align the change across process, reward, strategy and other enablers and treat always as a people first : technology second rollout. The technology can act as a reinforcement for the new way of working. It can also drive up enormously the quality of our decision support.
3. Finally, as I’ve written before in terms of adopting analytics, seek to answer meaningful business problems and build on the momentum, as with it comes greater advocacy within the business.
Until next time. Let smart technology help build great companies.
